Birthing on Country
For more than 60,000 years Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have birthed their babies on traditional lands. Birthing on Country is a continuation of thousands of years of knowledge and practice, which provides holistic maternal, child and family health care that embeds cultural integrity and safety during pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal care.
Birthing on country is a program that encourages health services to offer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women the chance to have a culturally appropriate birth. That will mean different things to different women in different parts of Australia. Ask your local midwife, Aboriginal health service, hospital, birthing centre or primary health network what is available where you live.
There are currently two Birthing on Country sites, in Brisbane and the south coast of New South Wales. The Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations that run these sites are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) Brisbane, and Waminda South Coast Women’s Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation. ATSICHS’ Logan based Jajumbora BiOC Hub provides free midwifery support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women from pregnancy through to parenthood, and until the child is three years old.
